Zangardi Steps In as DOD Acting CIO

John Zangardi stepped in March 1 as the U.S. Defense Department’s acting chief information officer (CIO) following Terry Halvorsen’s retirement. Zangardi has served as the department’s principal deputy CIO since last October. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has yet to name a permanent replacement for Halvorsen.

As acting CIO, Zangardi serves as Mattis’ primary adviser for information management, technology and assurance; nonintelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications. He is a retired naval flight officer.

Zangardi will continue the department’s mission to support troops, reduce and simplify Defense Department networks and systems, protect them from cyber attacks and improve effectiveness and efficiency across the board, according to a statement from the department.

“I am truly excited about the DOD CIO’s continued support to warfighting and to the men and women who serve the nation,” Zangardi said in a statement. 

Additionally, Tom Michelli, U.S. Coast Guard CIO, has been selected to serve as acting principal deputy CIO.

Together they will oversee the department’s transition to Windows 10; expedite the rollout of the Joint Regional Security Stacks; drive the enterprise vision to reality; implement Cybersecurity Scorecard 2.0; and execute improvements to National Leadership Command Capabilities (NLCC) and positioning, navigation and timing.

“I want to thank Terry Halvorsen for everything he did in setting the organization up for success,” Zangardi said. “We will continue to lean forward and take risks when we can in providing the best IT products and systems to the department. This is not the time for us to take our foot off of the accelerator.”

Halvorsen retired February 28 after a 37-year government career.